Murphey's Law in Action
by Mouserocks-nerd
Summary: Lois has always subscribed to the theory of Murphey's law. But Clark, ever the optimist, has a lot to learn when she goes out of town for a few days... and he's left to take care of their two ever rambunctious children! Whatever could go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello friends and fans! This is an almost-complete story I have that I'll be posting about once (maybe twice) a week, while I try to catch up on some of my current stories that I've successfully managed to leave you all hanging on... Basically, Lois goes out of town chasing a big lead that involves the government and leave Clark to take care of their two kids... with near disastrous results! Just goes to show that, even with Superman, Murphey's Law reigns supreme! (For those who don't know: murphey's law is the principle that anything that *can* go wrong, *will* go wrong).

**Disclaimer:** Own nothing, do I, of Superman. Speak like Yoda, I am. ;)

*****Chapter One: Extreme Optimism*****

"You're sure you'll be okay? It's only for five days. I should be back by Tuesday evening, if all goes well. And I have everything packed and ready to go- and remember the emergency numbers are in the drawer next to the fridge in case anything goes wrong-"

Clark arched an eyebrow at his wife, trying to hide his amusement. "You do realize who it is you're talking to, right? Relax, everything will be fine."

"I know, honey, I know. It's just- I've never left the kids for this long and been this far away from them and you all at once-"

"It'll be fine, I promise. I can take a few days off to play Mr. Mom." He grinned. "Besides, I'm Superman. There's nothing I can't handle."

Lois frowned. "And then there's that. I know you said you won't leave the kids alone-"

"Lois, I already told you. No super activity while you're at the conference. I got it. Only under extreme circumstances. Bruce is going to cover for me meanwhile, and if I do have to leave I can drop the kids off at my mom's, Jimmy's place, or with Perry." He smiled at her. "Eidetic memory, remember?"

She gave him a disapproving glare before breaking down and smiling herself. Clark pulled her against his body warmly.

"I wish you'd just let me fly you out there. It'd be so much quicker. And more fun."

"I do, too. But you know I'm supposed to meet the agent at the airport. And it might be difficult to explain how I convinced the man of steel to fly me out to Los Angeles before he goes off-grid for a couple of days."

Clark grinned. "Sounds like the public would come up with some better stories than what he'll actually spend his weekend doing." He pressed a kiss on her lips. "Everything will be fine, I swear." Lois snorted and rolled her eyes. Clark, ever the optimist, had no concept of the meaning of Murphey's law- which happened to be the very principle by which Lois lived. That and fortunately a little something called deus ex machina whenever Superman swooped in and saved the day. Clark chuckled at her and kissed her on the lips. "I promise."

Lois sighed in resignation and nodded before her eyes lit up. "OH! I almost forgot! Jason's school starts at eight fifteen, and he's got soccer practice on Monday at four and Alice has ballet rehearsals today at one, _and _on Monday and Tuesday this week, because Wednesday's her recital."

"I remember. I know their schedules."

Lois cringed. "The part I forgot to tell you about was that I kind of sort of volunteered to help out a lot with the recital before any of this came up. Um, would you mind-"

"Honey, it's no big deal. I mean, come on. It's just ballet. I take her to the lessons, what, bring some snacks for the little girls to eat while they jump around the room for a while- relax. It's not a big deal at all. I can kiss up when I need to if I don't want to do something."

"Sure, Kent," she grinned flirtatiously at him. He obviously hadn't met Alice's ballet teacher yet. Otherwise he might not be so confident.

"I'm serious. I can be quite enchanting when I want to be."

"Mm-hmm. Just don't get cocky, Smallville." She played with his tie a little bit.

"You watch. I'll get brownie points just for being a father who's helping with a ballet. Trust me," he gave her a cheeky grin. "I'm Superman."

Lois looked at him dubiously, in an effort to hide her smile. "All right," she dragged out the ords slowly.

Clark sobered suddenly and placed a hand on his wife's barely visible yet growing stomach. "You sure _you'll_ be okay? I can be out there at a moment's notice, you know that."

She smiled at him. "Clark, I'll be fine. The baby's not due for another five or six months. Besides, it's you I'm worried about. Being a mom's a lot harder than you think it is. You're lucky you get to take a couple of days off from both jobs to deal with it all."

"I'm lucky, alright, but that's not the half of it," he grinned mischeviously and planted a warm kiss under her earlobe, then her throat, and her jaw. . .

"Clark," she sighed in mild exasperation. "I have to go. It's a Friday, there's things to do-"

"Fine," he sighed good-naturedly. Suddenly, a horn sounded outside. Clark glanced through the walls. "Cab's here." He turned away from his wife. "Kids, come say goodbye to your mother!"

Jason came bursting into the room with more than the usual amount of speed and gave his mother a hug. "Bye, Mom. I love you. We'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, munchkin. Don't worry, it's only a few days, and I'll be back home where I belong. Be good for your daddy, now, all right?" He nodded fiercely. "And no super speed in the house." His face fell, but he nodded. "Be careful. I love you."

"I know, Mom. Love you, too."

Alice came running up to her and grasped onto her leg firmly, for a four year old. "Don't go, mommy! What 'bout my ballet?"

Lois bent down and managed to get her daughter off of her leg and pick her up. "Sweetie, I'll be back in time for your ballet."

"But you told Madame Helena that you would help out!"

"I know, sweetie, but your dad promised me that he'll be there to help. You'll keep an eye on him and make sure he does, alright?" She whispered conspiratorally to her daughter. Clark rolled his eyes. Alice nodded.

"Good," Lois spoke, planting a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you, too, Mommy."

The car horn sounded again. "I gotta go. Be good for your daddy, all right? Love you guys! Bye, Clark," She gave her husband a quick kiss. Jason made a gagging noise in the background.

"Bye. Love you," he called. She smiled and blew him a kiss before closing the door behind her and walking out to the car. The three of them watched out the window until she was no longer in sight of the kids. Alice was the one who finally pulled Clark away.

"Daddy, we haffa go! Jase is gonna be late for school!"

_Let the whirlwind begin._

_*****Act Drop*****_

**A/N:** Short, but the next parts should be kiind of longer. If anybody has any other possible ideas for what kind of havoc could occur in a five day period, leave it in a review! Just remember, this isn't a very dramatic piece, so it's not an end-of-the-world story. Anything funny that might cross your mind would be helpful!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Part Two! Nothing serious has started yet- just some setups for future havoc... keep sending more ideas! Inspiration has many names... Anyways, so its short, but oh well. *shrugs*

**Disclaimer:** I own the amount of chaos that shall ensue in later developing chapters. But as far as things I can put down in legal writing, I pretty much own nothing. Sorry.

*****Chapter Two: The Whirlwind*****

Clark glanced at his watch and refrained from swearing aloud. It was almost eight o'clock. "Oh! Uh, okay. Jason, did you eat breakfast yet?"

"No."

"Well, what were you doing all this time before Mom left? Come on! Go grab some cereal or something- hurry up!"

"Can't we stop by McDonalds or something on the way?" He begged.

Clark shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo. At this rate I'm going to be flying you to school. We won't have time. Eat up, grab your stuff and let's get out of here! Alice, can you wait to eat until after we drop your brother off?"

She nodded, rubbing some sleep out of her eyes. "Yeah, Daddy."

"Not fair! You'll get her something to eat and I don't?"

"How about this, I promise, we'll do something fun for only you later, too, alright?"

He begrudgingly agreed, holding out a bagel for his dad to toast. Clark sighed and toasted it briefly with his laser vision, then added cream cheese in less than a second. Jason ate it a little too quickly. "Careful," Clark warned. "You have your backpack and lunch?"

"I have my backpack, but I don't have my lunch. Mom usually lets me buy lunch every other Friday- it's pizza day on Fridays."

"I thought you bought lunch last week."

"Nuh-huh. That was two weeks ago."

Clark nodded, acquiescing. "All right. Then if you're ready, let's go." He spun around into his Superman costume and Alice hopped into his arms excitedly and not without a little bit of awe. Jason sighed and flung his backpack on before grabbing onto his father tight as they flew high above the cover of the fog and clouds.

In moments, they had reached Jason's school. Superman touched down a few blocks away and changed back into Clark Kent in an alleyway. He checked his watch. Eight-thirteen. Drat. They walked towards the school at a relatively quick pace, Clark holding Alice in his arms as the bell rang right before they entered school grounds.

"Bye, Dad," Jason called as he jogged off to his classroom, hoping to avoid a tardy.

Clark released a long sigh. "Bye," he called. He took a minute just to relax and stood there, closing his eyes briefly. Only for a moment, to release a deep breath.

"Daddy, Daddy, look at me!" Clark opened his eyes to discover that in that brief respite, which could have only lasted three seconds, his daughter had managed to make her way over to the playground and was lying with her torso spread across one of the swings. Pushing off the ground, the swing started rocking back and forth precariously high. "Look, daddy, I can fly!"

Clark harnessed a groan inside his chest and jogged over to where his daughter was practicing her 'flying' skills- even holding her arms out like he did when he was Superman. "Alice," he chided as he picked her up off the swing and lifted her into his arms.

"But I'm just like you!" she protested in a hushed whisper. After the initial panic and careful observation of his surroundings, he smiled. Even at four, she knew what it meant to keep that secret. His heart swelled with that, and he held her in the air high above his head with a smile on his face.

"Yes, you are. But we gotta keep that our little secret alright?" She gave him a nod in the affirmative. "Good girl. Now don't run off like that anymore. What you did was dangerous."

"I knew you'd catch me."

Clark was briefly reminded of Lois in that instant, as it was something Lois had told him on several occassions after rescues. Alice was so much like her mother, he thought. Of course, that did mean she was just as rambunctious, as prone to accidents and as irresistable as Lois. He couldn't say no to his baby girl- and she knew it so well.

A voice from behind startled him. "Oh, Mr. Kent! How are you this morning?"

Clark turned to recognize Jason's third grade teacher running late to her classroom. He smiled. "Just fine, thank you very much. You?"

She gave him a scathing look and glanced herself up and down. Her hair was quite the toussled mess, her eye makeup looked worn and tired, and she was struggling to put on her second shoe. "Do I look all right? I had a long. . . um. . . a bad date last night. But anyways- hey where's Lois? I'm used to seeing her dropping Jason off late."

Clark opened his mouth to protest. "Oh, uh, we weren't. . . late. . ." he frowned at the ground and shifted his daughter in his arms.

Jason's teacher laughed. "You know you're a terrible liar, Mr. Kent. But don't worry. I'm hardly one to judge- you see how late I am."

Clark flushed. "Um, yeah, well anyways, Lois went out of town on business- tracking down some big lead with the government- and I get to play Mr. Mom until Wednesday."

The woman's eyes lit up. "Till Wednesday? Oh, perfect. Um, I know you're probably going to be busy and all, but I had a teacher's aide bail on me for Monday morning and I usually would ask another teacher or parent to cover for about an hour but since I've got you here, if you wouldn't mind, I could use the help. Third quarter's grades are due soon, and I've got a lot of grading to do and-"

Clark raised his hand to stop her from talking. "It's no big deal. I can do it- so long as you don't mind little Alice here tagging along."

"Oh, no, that's fine. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I gotta run now, I'm ten minutes late- thanks again, Mr. Kent!" She called as she ran off to Jason's classroom.

Clark chuckled to himself and shook his head. _Bad date,_ he mused,_ more like still-hungover-from-my-very-good-date_.

"Daaaaaaadddyyyyyyy," his daughter spoke in a singsong voice.

He turned to look at her with a smile on his face. "Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm hungry."

He could have face-palmed right then. "Breakfast," he groaned. "That's right. Well, it's just you and me. What do you want to eat?"

"Snails!"

He looked taken aback at her statement. "Snails? Why? That's not even a breakfast food."

"Madame Helena said French people eat snails and cargo and crates. I wanna be French. They're good at ballet."

Clark laughed to himself after thinking a brief moment. "You mean escargot and crepes. Escargot is snails." She nodded fiercely again. "Well, I don't know about snails, but I know this little French place where we can get some really good crepes just for you and me. Sound good?"

"Yeah!" Clark grinned and walked off with his daughter, ready to fly out to a little coffee shop in Paris at any given time.

*****S*****


End file.
